Customer owned telephone numbers

ABSTRACT

According to various embodiments of the present invention, systems and methods for routing telephone calls from host switch to remote switch in a Voice Over Internet Protocol (“VoIP”) network. A host switch in the VoIP network may be communicably coupled with a plurality of remote switches and with a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”); the host switch may receive a call from PSTN having signaling that includes a called party number field and/or a location routing number field. Based on the called party number field and/or the location routing number field, host switch identifies a target remote switch from among the plurality of remote switches that is associated with the called party number field by, for example, querying a database of associations between location routing numbers and/or telephone numbers and remote switches. Host switch then sends the call to identified target remote switch.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One or more embodiments of the present invention are related to systemsand methods for placing media communications through a network, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for routing voice over internetprotocol (“VoIP”) calls to and from a customer owned remote switch.

Providers of VoIP networks currently must directly administrate theaddition, deletion, and modification of telephone numbers associated asubscriber, in order to ensure that calls passing through the VoIPnetworks reach their intended destination subscribers. In other words,when a potential customer approaches VoIP network owners and expressesan interest in offering telephone service to subscribers through theVoIP network, the customer must often obtain a telephone number for eachsubscriber by allocation from the VoIP network owner. Such processes mayincrease cost and time, for the VoIP network owner and/or the customer,associated with adding new subscribers and managing a portfolio ofsubscribers and/or customers.

Additionally, customers of VoIP network owners may currently be limitedin their ability to perform services such as local number portability,emergency call completion, caller ID with name database functions, lineinformation database functions, and other telephone number relatedfunctions, except by relying on the VoIP network owner to provide suchservices. In such scenarios, cost and time may be increased due to theoften necessary interaction between VoIP network owner and customer toadd and make changes to the services of a particular subscriber.

Hence, for at least these reasons, there exists a need in the art foradvanced systems and methods for routing calls associated with customerowned telephone numbers.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One or more embodiments of the present invention are related to systemsand methods for placing media communications through a network, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for routing voice over internetprotocol (“VoIP”) calls to and from a customer owned remote switch.Embodiments of such methods may include, for example, providing a hostswitch in a voice over internet protocol (“VoIP”) network that iscommunicably coupled with a plurality of remote switches and with apublic switched telephone network (“PSTN”), receiving a call from thePSTN with the host switch, the call having signaling including alocation routing number field, identifying a target remote switch of theplurality of remote switches that is associated with the locationrouting number field, and sending the call to the target remote switchbased on the identification. According to some embodiments of thepresent invention, identifying the target remote switch of the pluralityof remote switches that is associated with the location routing numberfield includes querying an LRN/TN database within the VoIP network toidentify the target remote switch that corresponds with at least aportion of the location routing number field. In some instances of theembodiments, the signaling comprises first a calling party number field,second a location routing number field, and third the called partynumber field, and embodiments of the methods may further includetransposing the location routing number field with the called partynumber field. In some cases, the target remote switch is a Class 5softswitch.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, one or moresystems is presented. Such embodiments of systems may include a computerthat is communicably coupled to a computer readable medium, a VoIPnetwork, a PSTN, and a plurality of remote switches, and wherein thecomputer readable medium includes instructions executable by thecomputer to receive a call from the PSTN, the call having signalingcomprising a location routing number field, identify a target remoteswitch of the plurality of remote switches that is associated with thelocation routing number field, and send the call to the target remoteswitch based on the identification. According to some embodiments of thepresent invention, the instructions executable by the computer toidentify the target remote switch of the plurality of remote switchesthat is associated with the location routing number field may furtherinclude instructions executable by the computer to query an LRN/TNdatabase within the VoIP network to identify the target remote switchthat corresponds with at least a portion of the location routing numberfield. In some instances of the embodiments, the signaling comprisesfirst a calling party number field, second a location routing numberfield, and third the called party number field, and wherein the computerreadable medium further includes instructions executable by the computerto transpose the location routing number field with the called partynumber field. In some cases, the target remote switch is a Class 5softswitch.

One or more embodiments of the present invention are related to methodsfor establishing a customer-owned telephone number routing system. Suchembodiments of methods include providing a host softswitch within aVoice Over Internet Protocol network, which is communicably coupled witha second network. Such embodiments of methods further includecommunicably coupling the host softswitch with a remote softswitchconfigured to connect calls to a subscriber, associating the hostsoftswitch with the remote softswitch in a local exchange routing guidedatabase, provisioning a location routing number/telephone numberdatabase with information associating an LRN and a block of telephonenumbers with the remote softswitch, and receiving via the hostsoftswitch a call from the second network for the subscriber. The secondnetwork may identify the host switch responsible for routing calls tothe subscriber by querying the local exchange routing guide database,and the call may include signaling with a called party number and theLRN. Such embodiments of methods may further include determining theremote softswitch associated with the subscriber by querying thelocation routing number/ telephone number database based on the locationrouting number, and sending the call to the remote softswitch based onthe determination. In some cases, the host softswitch and/or the remotesoftswitch is a Class 5 softswitch, and in other cases the host switchis a Class 4 and/or a hybrid Class 4/Class 5 softswitch.

This summary provides only a general outline of some embodiments of thepresent invention. Many other objects, features, advantages and otherembodiments of the present invention will become more fully apparentfrom the following detailed description, the appended claims and theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A further understanding of the various embodiments of the presentinvention may be realized by reference to the figures which aredescribed in remaining portions of the specification. In the figures,like reference numerals are used thoughout several to refer to similarcomponents. In some instances, a sub-label consisting of a lower caseletter is associated with a reference numeral to denote one of multiplesimilar components. When reference is made to a reference numeralwithout specification to an existing sub-label, it is intended to referto all such multiple similar components.

FIG. 1 illustrates a customer owned telephone number routing system inaccordance with various embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary call signaling information according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram illustrating methods for routing calls tocustomer owned telephone numbers, according to various embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a computer system with which embodiments of thepresent invention may be utilized.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram illustrating various methods according toembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

One or more embodiments of the present invention are related to systemsand methods for placing media communications through a network, and moreparticularly to systems and methods for routing voice over internetprotocol (“VoIP”) calls to and from a customer owned remote switch.

Some embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methodsfor routing telephone calls to a remote switch in a network. The systemsand methods can be implemented using computers and computer software,such as depicted in FIG. 5, for example. Such computer software can bemaintained on a computer readable medium. As used herein, the term“computer readable medium” is used in its broadest sense to mean anystorage device accessible to a computer. Thus, for example, a computerreadable medium can be a hard disk drive, a RAM, a floppy diskette, a CDROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic tape, and/or the like. In some cases, thecomputers and/or computer software can communicate via a network. Inparticular, the computers can be communicably coupled to a networkand/or each other. As used herein, the term “network” is used in itsbroadest sense to mean any system capable of passing communications fromone entity to another. Thus, for example, a network can be, but is notlimited to, the Internet, a virtual private network, a local areanetwork, a wide area network, a WiFi network, a PSTN, a cellularnetwork, and/or any combination thereof. Further, the term “communicablycoupled” is used herein in its broadest sense to mean any couplingwhereby information may be passed. Thus, for example, communicablycoupled includes electrically coupled by, for example, a wire; opticallycoupled by, for example, an optical cable; and/or wirelessly coupled by,for example, a radio frequency or other transmission media.“Communicably coupled” also includes, for example, indirect coupling,such as through a network, or direct coupling.

In some cases, the aforementioned systems and methods employ routing tohandle calls and/or data. As used herein, the term “routing” is used inits broadest sense to mean any action taken to transfer, initiate,terminate, end, and/or direct calls and/or data. In various instances,calls are handled by network routing resources. As used herein, theterms “network resource,” “network element,” or “network routingresource” are used in their broadest senses to mean any device and/orsoftware capable of routing a call and/or data, including, but notlimited to, a session border controller, a gateway, a gatewaycontroller, a softswitch, a proxy server, or a feature server. In someembodiments, calls are routed to or from switches, such as, for example,a host switch or a remote switch. As used herein, the term “switch”refers to a network routing resource or any other device capable ofperforming switching functions associated with placement and/or routingof calls. According to some embodiments, calls may be placed to or fromcommunications devices. As used herein, the term “communications device”is used in its broadest sense to mean any device capable of initiating,transmitting, and/or receiving communications through a network, andincludes, but is not limited to, a telephone, a fax machine, an InternetProtocol (“IP”) phone, a SIP phone, and/or a wireless phone.

Turning to FIG. 1, a customer owned telephone number routing system 100in accordance with various embodiments of the present invention isillustrated. Customer owned telephone number routing system 100 includesa host network 102, a remote network 104, and a public switchedtelephone network (“PSTN”) 106. Communications device 108 iscommunicably coupled with PSTN 106. PSTN is communicably coupled withhost network 102, and host network 102 is communicably coupled withremote network 104. Host network 102 includes a host switch 110 and aLocation Routing Number (“LRN”)/Telephone Number (“TN”) database 122;LRN/TN database 122 may be communicably coupled with host switch 110.Host network 102 is communicably coupled with Local Exchange RoutingGuide, such as, for example Telcordia® LERG™ Routing Guide, (“LERG”)database 120, with Number Portability Administration Center (“NPAC”)database 126, and with communications device 118. According to someembodiments of the present invention, LERG database 120 is a Telcordia®LERG™ Routing Guide, which may be produced and/or output by a Telcordia®Business Integrated Rating and Routing Database System (BIRRDS) used forinputting the code/block information.

NPAC database 126 is communicably coupled with PSTN 106, and/or hostnetwork 102. LERG database 120 may also be communicably coupled withPSTN 106 and/or remote network 104. According to some alternativeembodiments of the present invention, LERG database 120 comprises datarepresenting LERG information from another database, replicating theLERG information for internal network 102 use. According to embodimentsof the present invention, LERG database 120 and/or NPAC database 126 maybe replicated databases, and may be located either inside of or outsideof remote network 104 and/or host network 102. Remote network 104includes a remote switch 124, and is communicably coupled with acommunications device 114 and a communications device 116.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, host network 102is a VoIP network, and host switch 110 is a network routing resource.Embodiments of the present invention permit a customer-owned remotenetwork 104 and customer-owned remote switch 124 to serve subscribers byconnecting to PSTN 106 and/or other networks through host network 102.Such an arrangement prevents owner of remote network 104 from having torequest allocation of specific TNs from owner of host network 102 foreach subscriber, and facilitates the remote network 104 owner'sprovision of local number portability (“LNP”), emergency callcompletion, caller ID with name database (“CNAM”) functions, lineinformation database (“LIDB”) functions, directory listings support, andother telephone number related functions. In such an arrangement, hostnetwork 102 includes a host switch 110 for the customer's remote switch124, and the host network 102 may exchange keys with remote network 104to perform “emergency 911” routing. Further, such an arrangement permitsthe remote network 104 owner, or customer, to own and maintain its owninventory of TNs, as well as all ported numbers from its subscribers,without requiring involvement of the host network 102 owner; the hostnetwork 102 owner would no longer need to gather and/or maintainsubscriber-specific information for subscribers of remote network 104.Host switch 110 may be, for example, a Class 5 softswitch, a Class 4softswitch, or a hybrid Class 4/Class 5 softswitch, which has all orsome of the properties and functions of a Class 4 softswitch and/or aClass 5 soft switch.

Remote switch 124 may be, for example, a Class 5 switch. The Class 5switch may be, for example, a Class 5 softswitch which is capable ofconverting a network signaling format to a media gateway and callsession control format. A Class 5 softswitch can utilize the signalingto establish and teardown subscriber calls and invoke call features onexisting calls, to provide various end-user services. A Class 5softswitch may further provide for call accounting intelligence for ahost network. A Class 4 softswitch, on the other hand, may in someembodiments perform higher-level switching and routing tasks while notnecessarily performing the same call features that a Class 5 softswitchperforms, such as, for example, caller ID. Class 4 softswitches areoften situated closer to the center of the network and configured tohandle VoIP calls in a fashion similar to that of tandem office switchesin circuit-switched networks. A hybrid Class 4/Class 5 softswitch hassome or all of the properties and functions of a Class 4 softswitchand/or a Class 5 softswitch, according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

Remote switch 124 serves one or more communications devices 114, 116.Communications device 114 may be associated with a first telephonenumber (TN1), and communications device 116 may be associated with asecond telephone number (TN2), for example. When a call is made from anoutside communications device, such as communications device 108 and/orcommunications device 118, to a telephone number associated with asubscriber of remote network 104, such as, for example, to the telephonenumber (TN1) associated with communications device 114, the call passesthrough host switch 110 of host network 102 before passing to remotenetwork 104.

FIG. 2 illustrates exemplary signaling information 200 according toembodiments of the present invention. This signaling information 200 maybe communicated between network signaling elements in a communicationnetwork via different methods, such as, for example, SS7, PRI, CAS, andSIP. SIP signaling is a unique VoIP signaling protocol and may beparticularly useful for signaling by network 102. Although callsignaling information 200 may often comprise more information than shownin FIG. 2, a first field, the calling party number field 206, may bepopulated by the calling party number 202; a second field, the GAP field210, may be populated by the location routing number 204; and a thirdfield, the called party number field 212 may be populated by the calledparty number 206. Fields 202, 204, 206 and their respective contentsaide a receiving device, such as host switch 110, in routing the call tothe proper destination, or target, remote switch 124.

FIG. 3 depicts a flow diagram 300 illustrating methods for routing callsfrom a host switch to customer owned telephone numbers, according tovarious embodiments of the present invention. A call is received fromPSTN 106 (block 302) at host switch 110 of host network 102. Adetermination is then made whether the LRN field is present (block 304).If the LRN field 204 is present, then a determination is made whether toroute the call based on the LRN field 204 or the TN field, also known asthe called party number field, 206 (block 306). If routing to a remoteswitch 124 is to be based on the TN field, then host switch 110 queriesthe LRN/TN database 122 to find a target remote switch 124 associatedwith the TN field 206 of the call (block 310). The target remote switch124 may be identified based on the TN (block 310) by, for example,matching the TN with a corresponding entry in the LRN/TN database 122,and then reading the remote switch 124 identification associated withthe particular TN entry in the LRN/TN database 122. Remote switch 124may be identified, for example, by its COMMON LANGUAGE® Location Code(“CLLI™ Code”), or by another unique identifier of a device on networks102 and/or 104.

Once remote switch 124 has been identified, host switch 110 mayoptionally transpose the LRN 204 with the called party number 206 (block312). Such transposition of LRN 204 with TN 206 may permit the call tobe routed to remote switch 124 in a format resembling a call madedirectly to remote switch 124 from PSTN 106, if such connected existed.For example, some softswitches such as remote switch 124 may beconfigured to process calls in which the call signaling information 200lists the called party number 206 in the GAP field 210. In such cases,host switch 110 may be configured to transpose the LRN 204 from the GAPfield 210 into the called party number field 212 in order to provide thecall to remote switch 124 in a format that facilitates routing.According to some embodiments of the present invention, transposing LRN204 with TN 206 involves transposing the processing logic used by hostnetwork 102 and/or host switch 110 to process the call signaling,instead of actually transposing the LRN 204 with the TN 206 between GAPfield 210 and called party number field 212 within call signalinginformation 200. Once the target remote switch 124 has been identified,the call is sent to the target remote switch 124 (block 314). The remoteswitch 124 then uses the called party number field 206 to route the callto the correct subscriber associated with the called party number field206.

In cases where the LRN is present (block 304) and the call is to berouted based on the LRN (block 306), then host switch 110 queries theLRN/TN database 122 to find a target remote switch 124 associated withthe LRN field 204 of the call (block 316). The target remote switch 124may be identified based on the LRN (block 318) by, for example, matchingthe LRN with a corresponding entry in the LRN/TN database 122, and thenreading the remote switch 124 identification associated with theparticular LRN entry in the LRN/TN database 122. Remote switch 124 maybe identified, for example, by the IP address used to direct signalingto and from the switch. The remote switch 124 may be identified, forexample, by its COMMON LANGUAGE® Location Code (“CLLI™ Code”) along withsome other key, or by another unique identifier of a device on networks102 and/or 104.

Once remote switch 124 has been identified, host switch 110 mayoptionally transpose the LRN 204 with the called party number 206 (block320). Such transposition of LRN field 204 with TN field 206 may permitthe call to be routed to remote switch 124 in a format resembling a callmade directly to remote switch 124 from PSTN 106, if such connectedexisted. For example, some softswitches such as remote switch 124 may beconfigured to process calls in which the call signaling information 200lists the called party number 206 in the GAP field 210. In such cases,host switch 110 may be configured to transpose the LRN 204 from the GAPfield 210 into the called party number field in order to provide thecall to remote switch 124 in a format that facilitates routing. Once thetarget remote switch 124 has been identified, the call is sent to thetarget remote switch 124 (block 322). The remote switch 124 then usesthe called party number field 206 to route the call to the correctsubscriber associated with the called party number field 206.

In cases where the LRN is not present (block 304), a determination ismade whether to route the call based on the LRN field 204 or the TNfield 206 (block 332). In cases where the call is to be routed based onthe TN, then host switch 110 queries the LRN/TN database 122 to find atarget remote switch 124 associated with the TN field 206 of the call(block 324). The target remote switch 124 may be identified based on theLRN (block 326) by, for example, matching the LRN with a correspondingentry in the LRN/TN database 122, and then reading the remote switch 124identification associated with the particular LRN entry in the LRN/TNdatabase 122. Remote switch 124 may be identified, for example, by itsCOMMON LANGUAGE® Location Code (“CLLI™ Code”), or by another uniqueidentifier of a device on networks 102 and/or 104. Once remote switch124 has been identified, the call is sent to the target remote switch124 (block 330). The remote switch 124 then uses the called party number206 to route the call to the correct subscriber associated with thecalled party number field 206.

In cases where the LRN is not present (block 304) and the call is to berouted based on the LRN (block 332), then host switch 110 queries theNumber Portability Administration Center (“NPAC”) database 126 toidentify the LRN field 204 based on the TN field 206 (block 334). Callsmay be received by host switch 110 without a LRN field 204 if therewere, for example, an error made by PSTN 106 in routing the call. Oncethe LRN is obtained, host switch 110 then queries LRN/TN database 122 tofind a target remote switch 124 associated with LRN field 204 of thecall (block 336). The target remote switch 124 may be identified basedon the LRN (block 338) by, for example, matching the LRN with acorresponding entry in the LRN/TN database 122, and then reading theremote switch 124 identification associated with the particular LRNentry in the LRN/TN database 122. Remote switch 124 may be identified,for example, by its COMMON LANGUAGE® Location Code (“CLLI^(SM) Code”),or by another unique identifier of a device on networks 102 and/or 104.

Once remote switch 124 has been identified, host switch 110 mayoptionally transpose the LRN 204 with the called party number 206 (block340). Such transposition of LRN field 204 with TN field 206 may permitthe call to be routed to remote switch 124 in a format resembling a callmade directly to remote switch 124 from PSTN 106, if such connectedexisted. For example, some softswitches such as remote switch 124 may beconfigured to process calls in which the call signaling information 200lists the called party number 206 in the GAP field 210. In such cases,host switch 110 may be configured to transpose the LRN 204 from the GAPfield 210 into the called party number field in order to provide thecall to remote switch 124 in a format that facilitates routing. Once thetarget remote switch 124 has been identified, the call is sent to thetarget remote switch 124 (block 342). The remote switch 124 then usesthe called party number 206 to route the call to the correct subscriberassociated with the called party number field 206.

According to embodiments of the present invention, when a customer isset up according to the system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1, for example,the customer begins by acquiring a VoIP switch that may serve as remoteswitch 124, such as a Class 5 switch. Next, the customer establishesremote switch 124 CLLIs™, and acquires telephone numbers from entitiessuch as North American Numbering Plan Administration (“NANPA”) for a tenthousand block of TNs, and/or from entities such as Neustar for a onethousand block. The customer also establishes LRNs for its subscribers,acquires competitive local exchange carrier (“CLEC”) status, andprovides its Operating Company Number (“OCN”) to owner of host network102. The host network 102 then opens LERG database 120 access to allowthe customer to provision against the host network's 102 CLLI™ for hostswitch 110 and/or other host switches such as, for example, by addingthe customer's OCN as authorized to update LERG database 120 for thehost network 102 owner's switches. LERG database 120 may be, forexample, Telcordia® LERG™ Routing Guide, according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

Next, the customer provisions LERG database 120 with informationassociating a host switch 110 of host network 102 and a remote switch124 of remote network 104 with each NPA-NXX-X identifier in LERGdatabase 120. Finally, the owner of host network 102 closes LERGdatabase 120 access and provisions its own network 102 withcustomer-owned TN and LRNs. For example, the owner of host network 102provisions its network 102 with customer-owned TNs and LRNs by enteringinformation associating a particular LRN, a particular TN, a particularportion of a particular LRN or group of LRNs, and/or a particularportion of a particular TN or group of TNs (such as the NPA-NXX-XXXidentifier) with a particular remote switch 124, or with a particularCLLI™ identifying remote switch 124. Such provisioning informationrelating customer-owned switches 124 with TN and LRN information may beentered into a database, such as, for example, LRN/TN database 122. Suchprovisioning information within LRN/TN database 122 may be continuouslyupdated and/or updated upon addition of LRNs or new blocks of TNs bycustomer/owner of remote switch 124.

According to some embodiments of the present invention, a customerobtains a block of TNs and allocates the TNs to its subscribers. Becausethe owner of host network 102 would be provided with information aboutthe block of telephone numbers (such as NPA-NXX-XXXX identifiers) duringthe customer's setup process, when host switch 110 receives calls tosuch numbers, host switch 110 may either route the call based on the LRNfield 204 and/or the TN field 206, because such information will havebeen provisioned into LRN/TN database 122, to permit host switch 110 toidentify a remote switch 124 based on such information. However, forsubscribers of the customer (i.e. remote network 104 subscribers) whowished to keep their previous TN, host switch 110 would use LRN field204 to identify remote switch 124 for incoming calls. According to someembodiments of the present invention, TN field 206 is present in thesignaling information 200 and the presence of the LRN field 204 is basedon the status of the TN field 206. If remote switch 124 with which theTN field 206 is associated is not able to be identified at the six-digitlevel, the LRN field 204 may be populated prior to arrival of the callsignaling with host network 102 and/or host switch 110. For example, theLRN field 204 may be populated by PSTN 106 based on the TN field 206.

FIG. 4 is an example of a computer system 400 with which embodiments ofthe present invention may be utilized. Computer system 400 represents anexemplary host switch 110 and/or remote switch 124 which may implementone or more of the methods discussed herein for routing calls in acustomer-owned telephone number network. In this simplified example, thecomputer system 400 comprises a bus 401 or other communication means forcommunicating data and control information, and one or more processingdevices 402, such as a well known processor, Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), orthe like, coupled with bus 401.

In this simplified embodiment, computer system 400 further comprises arandom access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device (referred toas main memory 404), coupled to bus 401 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by processing device 402. Main memory 404also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions by processor(s) 402.

Computer system 400 can also include a read only memory (ROM) 406 and/orother static storage device coupled to bus 401 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processing device 402. A mass storagedevice 407, such as a magnetic disk or optical disc and itscorresponding drive, may also be coupled to bus 401 for storinginstructions and information, such as configuration files, a key storeand registration database, etc. Such ROM 406 may comprise, for example,one or more databases in which information may be stored and/orretrieved, such as, for example, information received or sent via system100, SAP 104, or the modules of FIG. 2.

One or more communication ports 403 may also be coupled to bus 401 forsupporting network connections and communication of information to/fromthe computer system 400 by way of a communication network, such as aLocal Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), or the Internet, forexample. The communication ports 403 may include various combinations ofwell-known interfaces, such as one or more modems to provide networkaccess, one or more 10/100 Ethernet ports, one or more Gigabit Ethernetports (fiber and/or copper), or other well-known network interfacescommonly used in internet work environments. In any event, in thismanner, the computer system 400 may be coupled to a number of othernetwork devices, communication devices, clients, NTMs, and/or serversvia a conventional communication network infrastructure.

Optionally, operator and administrative interfaces (not shown), such asa display, keyboard, and a cursor control device, may also be coupled tobus 401 to support direct operator interaction with computer system 400.Other operator and administrative interfaces can be provided throughnetwork connections connected through communication ports 403.

Finally, removable storage media (not shown), such as one or moreexternal or removable hard drives, tapes, floppy disks, magneto-opticaldiscs, compact disk-read-only memories (CD-ROMs), compact disk writablememories (CD-R, CD-RW), digital versatile discs or digital video discs(DVDs) (e.g., DVD-ROMs and DVD+RW), Zip disks, or USB memory devices,e.g., thumb drives or flash cards, may be coupled to bus 401 viacorresponding drives, ports or slots.

FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram 500 illustrating various methods accordingto embodiments of the present invention. A host softswitch 110 may beprovided within a Voice Over Internet Protocol network 102, andcommunicably coupled with a second network (block 502). The secondnetwork may be, for example, PSTN 106. The host softswitch 110 may becommunicably coupled with a remote softswitch 124 configured to connectcalls to a subscriber (block 504), such as, for example, to subscriber'scommunication device 114, 116. The host softswitch 110 may then beassociated with the remote softswitch 124 in a LERG database 120 (block506). Next, an LRN/TN database 122 may be provisioned with informationassociating an LRN and a block of telephone numbers with the remotesoftswitch 124 (block 508). In operation, a call may be received via thehost softswitch 110 from the second network 106 for the subscriber(block 510). In such cases, the second network, such as, for example, aPSTN 106 operator, may identify the host switch 110 responsible forrouting calls to the subscriber by querying LERG database 120. Thereceived call may include signaling 200 exhibiting a called party number206 and/or an LRN 204.

Based on LRN 204, host softswitch 110 may determine which remotesoftswitch 124 is associated with the subscriber by querying the LRN/TNdatabase 122 based on the LRN 204 (block 512). Alternatively, hostsoftswitch 110 may determine which remote softswitch 124 is associatedwith the subscriber by querying the LRN/TN database 122 based on the TN206. According to some embodiments of the present invention, LRN/TNdatabase 122 may contain a record indicating that all calls for whichthe called party number 206 falls within a certain ten-thousand block ofTNs, for example, within the ten-thousand block “123-456-XXXX,” shouldbe routed to a particular remote softswitch 124. According to otheralternative embodiments of the present invention, LRN/TN database 122may contain a record indicating that all calls for which the LRN 204matches a certain number or falls within a certain range of LRNs, shouldbe routed to a particular remote softswitch 124. Once the remotesoftswitch 124 has been identified in one such fashion, the call may besent to the remote softswitch 124 based on the determination (block514).

Embodiments of the invention have now been described in detail forpurposes of clarity and understanding. However, it will be appreciatedthat certain changes and modifications may be practiced within the scopeof the appended claims. Thus, although the invention is described withreference to specific embodiments and figures thereof, the embodimentsand figures are merely illustrative, and not limiting of the invention.Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined solely by theappended claims.

1. A method of routing a call to a customer-owned telephone number, themethod comprising: providing a host switch in a voice over internetprotocol (“VoIP”) network communicably coupled with a plurality ofremote switches and with a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”);receiving a call from the PSTN with the host switch, the call havingsignaling comprising a location routing number field; identifying atarget remote switch of the plurality of remote switches that isassociated with the location routing number field; and sending the callto the target remote switch based on the identification.
 2. The methodof claim 1, wherein identifying the target remote switch of theplurality of remote switches that is associated with the locationrouting number field comprises querying an LRN/TN database within theVoIP network to identify the target remote switch that corresponds withat least a portion of the location routing number field.
 3. The methodof claim 1, wherein the signaling further comprises a called partynumber field, and wherein identifying the target remote switch of theplurality of remote switches that is associated with the called partynumber field comprises querying a Number Portability AdministrationCenter (“NPAC”) database to identify a location routing number fieldassociated with the called party number field.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the signaling comprises first a calling party number field,second the location routing number field, and third a called partynumber field, and wherein the method further comprises: transposing thelocation routing number field with the called party number field.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the target remote switch is a Class 5softswitch.
 6. A system comprising: a computer, wherein the computer iscommunicably coupled to a computer readable medium, a voice overinternet protocol (“VoIP”) network, a public switched telephone network(“PSTN”), and a plurality of remote switches, and wherein the computerreadable medium includes instructions executable by the computer to:receive a call from the PSTN, the call having signaling comprising alocation routing number field; identify a target remote switch of theplurality of remote switches that is associated with the locationrouting number field; send the call to the target remote switch based onthe identification.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the instructionsexecutable by the computer to identify the target remote switch of theplurality of remote switches that is associated with the locationrouting number field further comprise instructions executable by thecomputer to query an LRN/TN database within the VoIP network to identifythe target remote switch that corresponds with at least a portion of thelocation routing number field.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein thesignaling comprises first a calling party number field, second alocation routing number field, and third the called party number field,and wherein the computer readable medium further includes instructionsexecutable by the computer to: transpose the location routing numberfield with the called party number field.
 9. The system of claim 6,wherein the target remote switch is a Class 5 softswitch.
 10. A methodfor establishing a customer-owned telephone number routing system, themethod comprising: providing a host softswitch within a Voice OverInternet Protocol network, the host softswitch communicably coupled witha second network; communicably coupling the host softswitch with aremote softswitch configured to connect calls to a subscriber;associating the host softswitch with the remote softswitch in a localexchange routing guide (“LERG”) database; provisioning a locationrouting number (“LRN”)/telephone number (“TN”) database with informationassociating an LRN and a block of telephone numbers with the remotesoftswitch; receiving via the host softswitch a call from the secondnetwork for the subscriber, the second network identifying the hostswitch responsible for routing calls to the subscriber by querying theLERG database, the call comprising signaling comprising a called partynumber and the LRN; determining the remote softswitch associated withthe subscriber by querying the LRN/TN database based on the LRN; andsending the call to the remote softswitch based on the determination.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the host softswitch is a Class 5softswitch.
 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the host softswitch is aClass 4 softswitch.
 13. The method of claim 10, wherein the hostsoftswitch is a hybrid Class 4/Class 5 softswitch.
 14. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the remote softswitch is a Class 5 softswitch.